Together at Last
by FayCullen
Summary: Edward and Bella have just been married, but in one foul swoop Edward kills Caius and has to change Bella. Now they are all on the run and Bella--with her new abilities--must help them all. One lemon in the mix people! Don't miss it!
1. Chapter 1

Edward and Bella: together at last 1

Our bodies moved together as we tumbled on to the bed. '_How did I get here?' _I thought as Edward undid the clasps on my dress, his fingers running down my back ever so gently.

Finally I had had my juvenile marriage phobias proven false. Only a few hours ago we were standing up in front of nearly the entire town (courtesy of Alice, my psychic, vampire sister-in-law), getting married. The only people that I had really wanted there were Charlie, my dad, Renee, my mom, and the one person that couldn't be there: My best friend, (and well known werewolf) Jacob Black, who was currently M.I.A. Back when Edward (my wonderful, perfect new husband, and vampire) had left me in Forks, fearing that he had a bad influence on both my safety and my soul, Jake glued all of the broken pieces of me back together. After I had found out that I loved him, I had to make the pain staking, but completely obvious and unavoidable choice of choosing Edward over Jake. He took it pretty hard, and decided to take wolf form over human form. But Edward was the one piece that he never would have found in the first place, and that was the only piece that could have possibly made me whole.

"Bella," Edward whispered playfully in my ear. "Why must you be so beautiful? You're simply ravishing."

A shiver of pleasure ran up my back. His voice was velvety smooth. His half smile, the one that sent my heart into hysterics, revealed his teeth, gleaming in the otherwise dark room. Both of our bodies were completely bare. Our skin, mine ivory, his marble, glowed in the moonlight that filtered through the humongous window that covered the entire expanse of the southern wall in his bedroom; our bedroom.

Edward had fallen in love with me just about an hour after I had fallen for him. _'And so the lion fell in love with the lamb',_ was the way he had put it once. I was the lamb. To Edward, I was the most enticing meal on the planet. My blood sings to him, in a way. No one else has ever been as tasteful as I have been to him. But his family's surprising morals keep me alive. The Cullens only hunt animals, unwilling to endanger the lives of humans around them.

Coming back to the present I blushed, an automatic reaction to… anything really. Maybe I was reacting to the embarrassment, making myself so vulnerable. Maybe the reaction was because of his unbelievable beauty, compared to my obviously normal, plain features. Maybe, it was the intense feeling of desire for even more of him. Once again I was grateful that my thoughts were the only ones that Edward couldn't read. Or, rather hear.

A feverish pleasure filled my entire body, as both of ours moved in unison. He was everywhere at once, everywhere around me, his soul filled mine; our hearts, his motionless in his forever flawless body, mine (of coarse) beating erratically, were given to each other. Forever. For eternity.

As we reluctantly came to a stop, we forced our bodies apart, our breathing heavily saturated in ecstatic exhaustion.

"Wow," I breathed. I could really get used to this.

"What?" Edward challenged, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"I'm married! Not to mention that but my virginity just took a flying leap out the window."

His quiet laughter shook the bed and he knelt in to kiss the top of my head tenderly.

"Plus, this _has_ to be the best honey moon _ever,"_ I said into his chest while tracing designs into his skin.

"Don't think you are one sided in your appreciation." He said, chuckling.

"And what do _you_ have to appreciate?"

"The best smelling wife in the world. I swear, if you're senses were as advanced as mine, you would think that I just made love to a bed of roses."

It was my turn to laugh.

All at once, he tensed under my touch.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I asked urgently.

"Stay here Bella, love. I'll be back quickly," he said quietly in reply, putting clothes on.

And then, I was abruptly alone.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © FayCullen


	2. Chapter 2

Edward and Bella: together at last 2

I sat in the bed, stunned and alone. What had just happened again? I went over the course of events in my mind. First Edward was with me, making love to me in fact. Then we were having a perfectly lovely conversation, and all of a sudden he was no where to be seen. The cause was out of my mental capacity.

Attempting to put myself in his shoes as I got out of bed to put some clothes on, I tried to imagine what he would find dangerous. Either to me or himself, though I doubted he thought much of his own safety around me. After all I was the most breakable. My thoughts immediately flickered to Victoria. Even thinking her name had shivers rolling down my spine. After the past few times the vampire tried to kill me, it left a mark. But of course that was impossible. She was dead. I had seen Edward kill her in front of my very own eyes.

My next thought went to the Quileute werewolf pack; the one Jake was in. They were probably going to show up when Edward changed me, because of the treaty. None of the Cullens were ever aloud to bite, or kill, humans. That was what the treaty consisted of, but Edward hadn't bitten me yet, and we were planning to go across the country before anything like that happened, though the treaty would still be in affect wherever we went. So that was _probably_ a definite no.

Then, realization hit. It had to be Jake. Jacob Black, my best friend and member of the Quileute pack. Who else could it be? He must be the one downstairs, trying to win me back from Edward yet again. Why I would be so egotistical I will never know, but I rushed down the massive, curved staircase to see my friend. It had been so long since I had seen his face.

The sight I found downstairs was highly unexpected.

I stood, frozen on the bottom step, staring at the intruder who had so rudely interrupted my honeymoon.

_Edward's Point of View_

My virginity was lost, no, not lost, given, to the most beautiful girl I could possibly have imagined to give it too. Not only that but she just happened to be my wife, our bond formed in holy matrimony. Unfortunately, after consummating my marriage to Bella, my one true love, who smelled as heavenly as she looked with a fresh flush to her cheeks, was interrupted by a different thought wave then the usual. A thought wave that was not welcome.

"Stay here Bella, love," I reassured her as a look of panic came to her eyes. "I'll be back quickly."

After hastily pulling on some pants I sprinted down the stairs to the door, opening it before the thing that was trespassing on my company could open it.

'_Ah, Edward,'_ Caius thought. I nodded in reply, no reason to speak.

'_What is that sickening smell?'_ Was the next thought that came to his mind. I fought back a snarl as I replied.

"I'm sorry; I am on my honeymoon you realize." The blow to Bella's scent made my tone sharper then I had intended.

'_Ugh, socializing with humans all the time. The restraint must be exhausting… but then again that __is__ the reason I came.'_

Oh dear God. Bella was still human; she new about the vampire world, and Caius was the one that had expected her to be changed. He was here to destroy the evidence. This included Bella, my family, and me.

Caius, one of the highest members of the Volturi, the authority figures to our kind, had let Bella survive when we had last dealt with them with one condition. The promise that Bella would be changed by the next time they 'visited'. To my surprise, he hadn't brought any back up with him. An inside job; No wonder Alice hadn't seen anything.

He snickered under his breath. _'It looks as if we have a visitor,' _was all that came to his mind, and I could hear Bella's footsteps bounding down the stairs. What was she thinking? Did she want to get killed? I immediately regretted the thought when Bella came to a stop at the foot of the stairway. As soon as I saw the shocked look on her face I went into action as quickly as _in_humanly possible.

_Bella's Point of View_

Edward moved at a speed so fast, he was all but invisible. He came at him from what seemed all sides, but Caius was an Ancient. He couldn't be beat that easily. A dance that I had seen only once before, between Edward and Victoria, once again showed itself. It wasn't really a dance, but that was the only way that one could describe it. A show of grace and deadly precision that resulted in deadly consequences for one of the pair. I looked to the stair rail and found the one loose screw that had always stuck out. It was the only imperfection in the entire household and I had always had to be careful of it after the incident with Jasper on my 18th birthday. I brushed my right hand over the sharp edge quickly; my gasp of pain and the smell of blood made Caius look up and pause in the dance.

With one fatal turn Caius's head was rolling away on the floor, his white shock of hair mussed after the swift motion. Edward dismembered his body in less than 30 seconds and set aflame to the twitching and convulsing pieces. He grabbed me by the waste and we were suddenly on the bed once more.

With a low sigh he started to speak. "Bella," he hesitated. "I'm so sorry. I wish we had more time but…"

His unbroken voice trailed off and I took his remarkably gorgeous face in my good hand. "It's alright," I said in a low rush. "Everything will be fine."

This reassurance was all that he needed. Edward took me in his arms for one last kiss….

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © FayCullen


	3. Chapter 3

Edward and Bella: together at last 3

This kiss was much too familiar. Edward's 'good-bye' kiss surprised me and sent a thrill of fear coursing through my veins. This was it; my final moments being human. I only wished that this moment could have lasted longer. My lips ached for his when he pulled away, only to drop his face to my collarbone.

"I'm so, so sorry," he said through dry sobs. It happened all too quickly.

Edward sunk his teeth into the hollow of my neck, making me cry out in pain.

Holy Crow, this was going to be painful.

Suddenly, a huge russet wolf came smashing through the window, the microscopic pieces shimmering as they fell to the floor. '_Why couldn't it have been Jake before, instead of stupid Caius?' _ I wondered desperately as the pain started to spread throughout my body, based from the bite area.

Snarls ripped from both his and Edward's chests as Edward flew out of the door with me cradled in his arms. I groaned as we flitted through the trees, the intensity of the pain increasing. The first spasm quivered through my body and I cried out, regretting that both had to be there, because at that moment Jacob crashed through the trees; his dark eyes showing all of the worry in the world, letting out a low whimper. Edward's eyes were on me, his pain piercing through mine like a harpoon being shot through thin plywood.

Still, at the same time I was strangely comforted that both were there.

My body started to shut down as it was born anew, going from the toes up. However, my body was unwilling to give itself up yet and in defiance fought back. That was the cause for the pain; the overwhelming feeling that I was burning alive. It ripped through my chest making it impossible to breath, forcing me to panic and scream worrying both of the people fighting over me now.

Jacob made a snap at Edward and I shrieked in protest. The movement was nauseating, but nothing came up but dry heaves into Edward's chest. The tears streamed down my face in torrents. Why would it not end? It had only been minutes yet hours passed by in my mind.

"Edward!" I called, searching and searching for him.

Everything was dark, the world a blank slate. The wind had stopped; we were no longer moving. Or were we? I felt as though I was unconscious, yet I was too alert. I smelled smoke, realizing that it was the house as my vision cleared. Another convulsion rocked through my body, and I screamed in agony. '_How will I go on?'_

Once again the wind rushed me onward. I faintly saw the silhouette of Alice and Emmett on either side of us. I thrashed and screamed in torment, begging for death as they all said I would. I vaguely remember being laid down in the small room in which I was confined. No windows; the door blended in to the wall. Completely trapped.

Paranoia hit as I tried to claw my way out of my own skin. '_Too close, too close!' _I kept saying to myself as I screeched and struggled against the ice cold grip holding down my hands. I prayed to God that it wasn't Edward. Every nerve felt raw, even my hair felt as if it was being pulled out by the roots. My eyes rolled into the back of my head, only to come back forward and my vision tinted red, then clearing in an agonizing process that made my eyes role back into my head once more. It was as if it was the Spanish Inquisition and they were stretching me out on the rack, torturing me for information. My limbs were being stretched, being lengthened and made limber. My blood rushed, on and on, spreading the pain, the fire, the spasms, to where ever I was moving.

The screams ceased, painstakingly slow. My breathing grew heavy; it continued to scale to hyperventilation.

"It's almost over," said a calm, velveteen voice that shocked me to my core, but I was too exhausted to open my eyes. The owner of the lovely voice that I had heard was none other than Rosalie Hale, the one member of the Cullen family that I hadn't been close too. Ever.

Wheezing, I said," Where's Edward?" hoarse from screaming.

"Outside. It won't be too long now."

At the end of her sentence I screamed. A new and unknown pain, centering from my chest, racked through my body. Once my cries silenced, I heard my heartbeat, much too clearly, reluctantly slowing; the pain was nearly gone and throbbing with each breath when my heart finally stuttered to a halt.

One last cry and I was done. Changed. Different. Cold, no longer fragile, and yet so vulnerable.

"Welcome to the family," Rosalie said quietly. "I hope that we become better acquainted now that we are equal." She said timidly with a slight smile.

But I couldn't hear her. But I could! I could hear her voice but her lips weren't moving. She was contradicting herself over and over, arguing about whether she wanted to know me or to kill me. I turned to the door.

"Edward?" I called, uncertainly.

He turned the corner and looked at me with pitch black eyes, brimming over with concern and pain.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © FayCullen


	4. Chapter 4

Edward and Bella: together at last 4

He came to me, wrapping me securely in his arms as we sobbed without tears.

"I am so sorry Bella. I never should have put you through pain like that. _Never._" he whispered.

"Edward, I'm confused," I said dumbly, and he lifted his head from my shoulder to look at me with a curious air.

"About what?"

"Is Rosalie speaking or am I crazy?"

"No, she's not speaking Bella. She was before but—"

"Where are the voices coming from? They're _everywhere_!"

"Pardon me?"

"The voices. I hear voices…"

Alice entered the room then, her face cautious.

"Hey, Bella. How do you feel?"

I stood up and came to her side faster then I had ever gone without falling in my life. I touched her cheek. Many years of visions, thoughts, and life experiences danced before my eyes.

"Whoa," I breathed when it was over.

'_What is Bella doing? I'd understand if she were anxious to see me, but just a touch to the cheek? That's a little out of character for our exuberant, emotional Bella...'_ Alice's voice spoke without moving her lips.

"Edward," I said while facing him again with wide eyes. "I can _hear_ them. Alice, Rosalie, everybody! I can read their minds!"

All of the people in the room stared with their mouths hanging open. I listened to what ran through their heads, though I couldn't find the voice I _actually _wanted to hear.

"But I can't hear yours," I said calmly to Edward; the disappointment heavy in my voice.

Next I went to Rosalie, hesitating.

"Um, Rosalie?" I said appraising her thoughts.

"What?" she replied faintly.

"Do you mind if I … if I touched your face?"

"Well… not really?" She spoke unsurely, her thoughts careful.

"Thank you."

I stroked her cheek as I did Alice's although this time I was not startled by the sudden torrent of thoughts. Some were hostile thoughts and memories through the years, such as when she killed the men who had raped her in her last human moments, or when she had first known me. Though others were happy: days with Emmett and the whole family, her first run, her first hunt; when she was a little girl living with her parents.

All of her thoughts since she was a little girl went flashing by my eyes in a few seconds.

How exquisite. "I can do what Aro does too!" I exclaimed. Aro was another very high member of the Volturi, and he could hear every thought that somebody had ever thought just by touching them. This was turning out to be very exciting.

When I looked around all of their dark eyes were trained on me.

"What?" I said; suddenly self conscious. Rosalie and Alice's thoughts were puzzling, flitting around to different explanations and excuses.

"Isn't that funny?" I questioned, looking to Edward. "I can do all of the things that other vampires can't do to me. With one exception though."

I couldn't find his voice through all of the thoughts I was hearing. Nor did I see all of his thoughts when we embraced. His face was still the shocked mask that had first appeared when I mentioned the voices. A new epiphany popped up in my mind as I flitted to his side, new grace replacing my former clumsiness.

"I wonder if I can do what Jane does."

New horror spread across all their faces. Jane, another member of the Volturi, could create the illusion of intense torture with just a pleasant look at her victim.

"I don't want to try it out though," I admitted even as I contradicted myself in my head. "I couldn't stand doing that to a person." A new plus: the ability to lie.

Edward stood to face me, finally speaking since the first time since I had told them I could hear their minds.

"You can't hear mine?" He said while curiosity burned in his voice.

"No," I told him matter-of-factly. "Probably because you can't read my own. An eye for an eye I suppose."

"Yes," he said chuckling in my ear.

The room was at a stand still none the less. I had to break the sudden silence, because all of the voices in my head were driving me crazy!

"I can't believe it! I haven't fallen in over five minutes!"

Everyone in the room cracked up, including me, though I was truly surprised. Up until now with vampire grace and precision taking over my body, I was the clumsiest person alive. Even if I was walking across flat ground without anything to trip over; I could always find _something_ to trip over, usually my own feet.

Just then Edward looked into my eyes confusedly. What would lead him to that reaction I had no idea so I waited impatiently until he explained.

"Your eyes," he murmured, so silently I thought he was speaking to himself.

Alice spoke next. "What Edward?"

"Bella's eyes! They aren't red, they're… gold, like ours are now."

"What!?" I gasped. He must be mistaken!

I walked at human pace to the mirror on the wall and looked at my new self. Truth be told, the eyes that looked at me from the shocking, beautiful, angelic face of the woman I now was were liquid topaz. The eye color of a civil vampire. Instead of the usual mark of an unsophisticated newborn, I had eyes showing that I had never tasted human blood. Even the evidence that blood had once run through my veins was no where to be seen; lost in my now stunning reflection.

Through my new crystal clear, perfect vision I could see every detail about my body and appearance. My face was striking, with full lips tinted crimson on a pale face and marble skin. My hair was maybe a shade darker then I had noticed on previous occasions and had a slight curl at the tips; long dark lashes framing my unusually golden eyes. The feeling of my limbs being stretched had changed them, giving me muscles tone that wasn't there before. I held my fingers out to the edge of the mirror and squeezed the thick wooden frame between my index finger and my thumb, gently. At least I thought I was being gentle. The wood between my fingers didn't put up any resistance except for a crack in protest as it became saw dust in the palm of my hand. A bitter smell caught my wandering attention.

I sniffed the air, biding my time, until I found a rather strange scent. I turned to face the bed that I had been thrashing around on for hours and dashed over to smell it.

"Is that really how I smell to you?" I asked while taking a look around.

"Yes it is," Edward replied. "Exquisite, correct?"

"No, it's… rather peculiar. I smell my strawberry shampoo, but then I smell…"

I can't believe that they thought I smelled wonderful. To myself, I smelled terrible and I couldn't stand the human scent. I was turning out to be the strangest newborn_ EVER._

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © FayCullen


	5. Chapter 5

Edward and Bella: together at last 5

All three pairs of eyes in the room were staring strait at me. Me and my oddly golden eyes. The eyes that darted to each face, searching, listening, for the answer to my strange behaviors in their thoughts and expressions.

"Edward," I started, "what's up with me?"

His pair of thirst darkened eyes met mine to reply, "We need to speak to Carlisle."

When he left the room I sat on the bed that stunk with my former human stench (well, it stunk to me at least) listening to Alice's and Rosalie's thoughts simultaneously.

'_She can hear my thoughts?! Not only do I have to put up with _one _vampire_ _mind-reader I have to put up with _Bella _reading my mind. How must I continue without truly hating her now?'_ Was on Rose's mind. I fought back a growl; a very odd thing to do considering that the way I used to deal with anger was to burst into furious tears.

Alice had a different mind set. '_This is great Bella!' _Alice thought while looking at me, a pixie-like smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. '_Now we can keep our little plans secret from Edward. All we have to do is go a few miles out of the area! It will only take a few minutes since you can finally keep up without me carrying you around.'_

"No more parties Alice." I said abruptly, tasting the little tangent going on in her thoughts. "Let me remind you that I'm sort of the strongest here now. Newborn, after all; even if I am the weirdest yet, I still have inhuman strength on my side."

Alice pouted and sighed. "Fine…"

She trotted out of the room, thoughts of defeat washing over her. At the same time Edward flashed up with Carlisle at his side, both looking concerned.

'_I can't imagine a newborn thinking even there_ OWN former_ scent wasn't mouthwatering,' _he thought.

"It's true though," I stated, a look of shock coming over his face. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm not that used to the voice-thought distinction yet." I smiled sheepishly, attempting feebly to break the tension.

"No, it's my fault. Edward told me you could most likely read my mind, I was just being unnecessarily skeptical."

I saw the metal thermos clutched in his hand. I could smell something very_, very_ nasty from within.

"_Ugh_, what is that?" I questioned, looking at Edward, then Carlisle, indicating the thermos.

"Just some donated human blood for transfusions. Carlisle had some spares," Edward replied coolly. "Would you mind smelling it just a bit?"

I thought, conflicted with the already terrible scent emanating from it already; a cross between sour milk and strange, acidic sulfur. If it smelled this badly and the lid was tightly screwed on, how bad would it smell with it off? What if I got sick? A stupidly naive thought since many of this little family had been around me through illness; common cold, stomach flu, a day long fever, they had been around and never gotten sick. Even when Edward had bravely swallowed a piece of pizza at my request, or when I had placed the small piece of wedding cake on his tongue, gulping it down with a laugh, he'd never lost his hold on his stomach.

However, I had my decision in less than a second. Ultra-quick vampire minds had there advantages.

"No, I'll try it," I said, and reached for the cup.

Carlisle unscrewed the lid and handed it to me. With cautious thoughts like these, he was very paranoid, at least for the moment. I took the stupid, stinking thermos, held it up to my face, and took a good whiff. Oh. My. God.

Fighting for the control it took to NOT throw it out the window, I handed it to them and fled from the room containing that wretched smell. I landed on the couch down in the front room and buried my face deeply into the safe confines of the ivory couch cushions. I heard Edward slowly come down the stairs, much more slowly than I had, and come to a stop at the foot of them. How funny that a sound that I once could barely detect was now so clear. I could feel his shock bore into me like a thousand arrows through my back. He was suddenly at my side, pulling me back out of the sofa, reassuring me that I didn't have to smell it again. Eventually I brought my face from its safe protection within the clean fabric. I moved gradually, inch by inch, until I faced him.

Instead of the fury I was expecting to see for the out burst, he was smiling his angelic half smile into my shamed face. I finally understood Edward's need to know my thoughts. This was infuriating! Why was he smiling at me when I was the exact opposite of what I should be? Totally abnormal. A freak, even though I was extremely beautiful and graceful at this point.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked, an edge of curiosity in my tone.

Chuckling (to make me even more irritated with my lack of hearing his thoughts?) he replied. "I am smiling, because you are so unbelievably__"

"Unnatural? Freakish? Weird? Strange? Abnor__"

"No." He said vehemently, interrupting my little rant. "Because you are the first perfectly structured vampire in the history of the world."

"What?" I scoffed. There was no way that could happen.

"Yes, Bella. You are officially the first of our kind that we have ever heard of disliking human blood. _Ever._" He continued without faltering. "Carlisle thinks it's because of how you so disliked the scent during your human years. I agree as well, and your abilities are amazing. You're being able to hear and do everything to others' minds that they cannot do to yours. Simply amazing."

I interrupted him then, sick of his ill reasoned praise, holding a finger to his lips.

"Edward… I am a freak." I said, slowly and deliberately. "My eyes are immediately gold; I hate the smell of human blood, which is _supposedly_ the only thing that I'm supposed to be thinking about at this particular moment. There is something wrong with me. Something terribly wrong."

He immediately denied me forcefully. "No, my love, you were perfectly set up for the life we lead. Did you want to be a rabid monster? Is that your idea of a vampire? Thirsty, and exploding with bloodlust?"

"No, _that_ is the correct attitude for a _newborn_. A _normal_ newborn that isn't crazy like me."

"You aren't crazy Bella; you have a spectacular gift, one that makes you unique. This will help you by a long shot. Also, we can do so much more of this now that you have no need to breath."

He pulled me into a passionate kiss, and a surprising wave of ecstasy rolled through me. I threw myself into the kiss, pulling him closer, twisting my fingers through his copper hair. He laughed as he pulled me away, a routine that he used to do to protect me when he thought things had gone a bit too far.

"You don't need to do that anymore you know," I scolded him in irritation. "I'm now indestructible."

"Yes, I don't need to do it for _you_; however, you were nearly tearing my hair out by the roots Bella."

"Oh. Oops. Sorry." I said while looking into his onyx eyes. He must have been so concerned while I was out. I sat up and kissed each of his eye lids as gently as possible.

"May we please go hunt now?" I asked him. "You look thirsty, and I'm eager to start my life as a vegetarian."

He laughed and pulled me up into his arms (much to my outrage) and sprinted out the glass doors into the nearby forest across the river.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © Bernadette-Cullen


	6. Chapter 6

Edward and Bella: together at last 6

The house was exactly the same, outside and in. The only thing that was different was that it was snowy out side and the river was frozen over. '_They must have hundreds of these houses across the country,'_ I thought to myself, captivated by my new sight that was so much clearer than before.

As the snow began to fall, the snowflakes that once looked like miniature cotton balls had clear patterns and none were the same. The trees that used to be a blur as Edward ran became individualized and easy to see. The scent of the earth was sharper than before, enhanced by my senses. Everything came to me as clear as a bell, all refined and heightened to their maximum capacity. They were so wasted when I was human.

"Edward, where are we?" I asked looking into his beautiful face.

"We moved up around the north Alaskan border to Canada. Away from all civilization, so that it would be easier for you. Of course we had no idea that it would be virtually useless because you were sickened by human scents, but…" he trailed off with that beautiful half smile on his face.

"Just because my tastes are refined doesn't mean that I am now the butt of all your jokes, mind you."

"Yes, but you are awfully cute when your mad."

I growled, a tiny playful one and he laughed aloud, coming to a stop. We came to a small clearing in the trees that was almost dry. The ground cover that the trees' canopy provided was nice, and I liked it; it made the perfect spot for future days that I wanted to be alone with Edward.

I sniffed the air when he set me down, going by instinct.

"See," he said, "you already have the basics down!"

I laughed at his optimism while my nose stopped when I came onto a nice scent. I had no idea what it was but compared to human blood this was mouth watering. I ran into the underbrush, my feet making only whispers against the icy ground. I found my prey.

A large Grey Wolf was pacing in circles around a rabbit hole, waiting for his quarry to come willingly out to greet him. He was alone and vulnerable, his wolf-ish thoughts (showing in black and white scenes, like an old movie) surrounded only himself. No attachments to pups or any mate. I circled with him, crouched in the ready, waiting for the opportune moment. When he had his back to my position I sprang, taking him by surprise.

He didn't even have time to think what had happened to him. I took him down in one leap and sank my pearly whites into his throat. My teeth, now razor sharp, sank through his coarse fur and rough skin as though it was an over cooked piece of pasta instead of an animal before me. I had no trouble draining him. The taste was unbelievable, like cinnamon and honey mixed into and irresistible blend.

When his veins ran dry I got up to examine his carcass. All of a sudden I realized what I had just eaten. A WOLF! I had eaten a wolf, and I could tell even this early that it was my favorite. I had sworn off those animals even before I had become immortal. Jake was a werewolf and I didn't really want to eat anything he was even remotely related too.

I turned around to find Edward leaning casually against a tree. "Well done Bella," he praised, a smile coming across his face. "You did splendidly for your first time, and got a wonderful catch too."

"I'm not too proud of it though." I mumbled.

"Why? It's beautiful, I don't see why you wouldn't be proud…" he said when he took me in his arms. He examined my eyes and had a slow moment of realization. "Ahh."

"Yes. Ahh."

"Just because he's a wolf doesn't mean anything, love. And, by the way you looked when you finished, you must have really enjoyed it."

"I did, that's the problem. Wolves are my favorite, I already know they are."

"No you don't, not yet anyway. You just had your first catch, this is the only thing you have eaten; you're biased. Don't hasten into a rash conclusion. Try a few other things, and then we shall make a judgment."

I agreed with a sigh, and we walked off together at human pace. I tried elk, mountain lion, even a grizzly bear and nothing could even compare to the taste of the wolf I had drained earlier. Sure, they smelled (and tasted I'm sure) much better than the human blood earlier that day, but they didn't have the exact smoothness to the taste and texture. Also Edward said my hunting strategy was much like a wolves, circling until the right moment to make the attack. Even my strait forward running style was like them.

I knew what he meant though. He preferred mountain lion and the way he stalked his game was so similar to the way I had seen the same animal do so on the DiscoveryChannel once in my blurry human years. Emmett had been said to prefer Grizzly and the way the animal had fought back reminded me of when Emmett and Jasper fought for sport in the back meadow of the house. Wild, large, and aggressive.

By the end of the day my clothes were messy and blood stained. I had a large tear on the left side of the expensive looking silk shirt I wore (Alice had dressed me during my coma like states in between the screaming and shrieking), and the light pink color was now spotted with a darker crimson all over my chest and arms. I had thrown the pumps that were placed on my feet into the side of a rock when a twig had cracked beneath my heel and had thrown off my perfect attack on a Grizzly. They were now a perfect fossil tribute to Prada. My non-stretch denim skinny jeans ripped when I started running, so I tore those into Levi cut-offs. I knew that Alice would be horrified when I got home.

Edward, however, didn't even look flustered, and the only evidence that he had been hunting was the liquid gold color of his eyes.

With not a hair out of place he challenged me to a race. "You up for it Bella?" he said nonchalantly.

"Catch me if you can!" I yelled as I ran out in front of him.

He chased me for about 30 seconds and then I had to keep up behind him. He was so fast! I leaped up to the trees and ran on the branches hoping to get the lead by bouncing out farther then him, but when I jumped down again to the forest floor he caught me and laughed as he continued running.

He nearly flew over the frozen river and once we stopped yelled, "Tie!" before he pulled me into a kiss.

I'm sure he only meant it to be a peck on the lips, but another tremendous wave of ecstasy washed over me and I wrapped my legs around his waste, entwining my fingers into his hair; I breathed in his marvelous scent, only to be interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

"Ahem!" I heard Emmett nearly yell behind me. "Get a room!" he said laughing when I reluctantly pulled myself from Edward and untangled my legs from his waste.

"Sorry," I said before I burst into a fit of giggles. Dear God, I would have turned beet red if I could have. If you heard Emmett's mind you would have too.

I then caught the scent of something in the air, along with the sound of a rapid heart beat. The scent was strange, smelling good, like an animal, but like rancid milk again. Like human blood and animal blood combined. I turned my head to the west, the source of the smell. "Edward?" I said, abruptly serious. "Can you smell that?"

He also turned his head to the west, sniffing the air.

"Yes," he said reluctantly, as if he was repressing a snarl. "That's a werewolf. Not only that, but it's Jacob."

At that moment I found the new thought wave.

I ran west.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © FayCullen


	7. Chapter 7

Edward and Bella: together at last 7

Coming through the trees, a humongous red-brown wolf growled at me. I fought the urge to growl back when I spoke to him.

"Jake, it's only me," I said calmly, anxiously, but that didn't stop the growling. "Please… listen. I only need to speak with you a moment. It'll only be you and me; we don't need anyone else."

Taking in my gory appearance he began to think._ 'Hmm, taking her on her first little hunting trip are we? Looks more like a blood bath. And how the hell could we be alone with her bloodsucking boyfriend translating?'_

"No Jake, we don't need anyone else, just the two of us. I can hear you perfectly fine." I replied, once again fighting off a snarl when he called Edward a bloodsucker. He was insulting me now as well.

'_What the hell is she talking about? She can't hear me, not even the pack can hear me. I told them to stay away for a while and that I'd take care of it. They'd better stay human or I'll—'_

"Look, before you start thinking of ways to pulverize the pack if they interrupt our conversation, get back on track! You need to think your words or I won't be able to understand."

His shocked eyes mirrored his thoughts.

"Yes, I know, I know. I can read your mind too. Shocking isn't it?"

'_Annoying's more like it.'_

"Oh, shut up!"

'_Sure, sure' _he said with a coughing bark that had to be a snicker.

'_So what was the reason you and vampy didn't wait to leave?' _ he asked, awaiting my answer with skeptical thoughts.

"We had a deal with the Volturi that I would be vampire before they checked up on us or else we would all be dead. I wasn't, so we had to act quickly. Are you okay? I wasn't really up to watching the fight at the time."

'_It was nothing. Let's just call it a minor scuffle. I only got a little cut on my foot and a broken leg plus two ribs. It healed quickly enough.'_

"Sorry about that."—wincing when he remembered the pain and shock of it—"Edward can be a little overprotective at times."

'_Yeah, at times… any way why did they need to kill you? What could YOU have done wrong?'_

"I knew about them and I was human. They didn't really want me to know. We also killed one of their most prestigious members right before we left. All of us will probably be running from them for years now."

Those last words slithered around in his head and left a menacing hostile trail in his thoughts like a snake.

"We'll also be running from you guys. No reason to though. I'm perfectly harmless."

'_WHAT! Is that what they've been telling you? That you're as harmful as what? A kitten? A puppy? That you can't hurt a thing? Just because you're away from civilization now and you're doing ok doesn't mean anything when you're out in the real world, completely surrounded by tasty meals and morsels!'_

"No, I didn't mean it that way," I said to interrupt him. "I mean that I am HARMLESS. I hate the smell of human blood. It smells so bad, it smells even worse then you do now!"

'_Well you don't exactly smell like daisies either.'_

"Jeez, I know that! God, Jake! Look at my eyes. Look really closely. Do those look like a normal blood thirsty newborn's eyes to you? Do they look like Victoria's eyes or Laurent's, or those other newborns' you killed in the clearing? They were immediately this color, even before I hunted! We experimented, and when Carlisle thawed out a bag of donated blood for transfusions and I took a whiff of that stuff… I had to struggle not to throw it across the room! It smells terrible!"

'_How am I supposed to know you aren't lying huh? You could have gained lying as a new ability or something for all I know.'_

"Fine then…" I hesitated. This was going to be awful.

"I'll show you!"

'_What?'_

"Stay right there, I'll be back in thirty seconds, I swear," I promised, going into the house.

I ran up to Carlisle's office, passing Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice in the front room, and grabbed the thermos off of his desk. "This had better be convincing…" I said to myself through gritted teeth.

'_What'cha doin' Bella?' _Alice thought.

"I'll fill you in later."

I rushed back and came to a stop in front of Jacob's big, hairy paws. Opening the already reeking container, I held it up for him to see.

"What does that look like to you?" I asked through my teeth.

'_Hmm let's see…' _

How irritating his sarcasm was at a time like this.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, hurry up!" I hissed.

'_Fine. It looks like blood, human by the smell of it. Jeez Bella, you didn't have to use the Lord's name in vain.'_

"I have no time for your mockery Jake, now watch this carefully because I am not doing it again."

Once again I held the cup to my face and inhaled deeply. The smell was even worse then I remembered. Along with sour milk came all things that smelled awful: garbage, body odor, old socks, mold, skunk's spray, and on and on and on! The poor little portable mug didn't stand a chance this time.

I screwed the cap on, folded the stainless steel in my palm and chucked it. It sailed through three pine trees and became imbedded in a huge cedar. The snapped trees fell in different directions, having a domino effect on the surrounding forest. I fell to my knees and dug my face into the snow bank. All of this had happened within three seconds.

'_Holy crap, what was that all about? It can't be that bad, I mean come on Bella, no one reacts that badly to a bad smell. You're overreacting!'_

"So you believe me then?" I asked while pulling my head out of its snowy, protective cocoon.

'… _Well, yeah I guess.' _ He thought reluctantly.

I smiled at my little triumph. I was glad that I could convince Jake that I wasn't really a danger to society; at least to humans, if not thermoses.

But it wasn't over yet.

'_Just because you can't harm humans by eating them doesn't mean you can't harm them at all. Look at what you did to the cup, and that thing wasn't even alive.'_

"Hey! It was uncovered, and I am sure that when I am around people who aren't little vessels holding blood that's completely out in the open that they will be fine! They'll probably just smell like you. There isn't any need to kill me or any of us and you know it, and I don't need to leave."

His thoughts went into complete and utter delirium. They churned and swirled and went 'round and 'round in a never ending circle revolving around me. Not like a wolf's hunting circle, closing in on its prey, but a protective circle, around its family.

"Jake, stay still." I said, and reached up to touch him.

His life came before me, like a gallery that showed the most impressive artwork known to the human realm. All of his thoughts came forward: childhood, adolescence, his normal teenage years, his not-so-normal teenage years. And me. My image twisting and twirling around in his mind from babyhood. BELLA, BELLA, BELLA. Bella hear, Bella there, Bella everywhere! It was like Old McDonald's farm, save all of the other animals except ME! Though, when he came of age I slowly disappeared into thoughts of automobiles and school. At least it wasn't ALL me.

The section of his mind that I was now in came up, protective emotions taking over his thinking. To protect me from myself. I could see that now. To protect me from myself….

"Ahh, Jacob," I groaned. "You're killing me here!"

'_What? Just because I love you I'm killing you?! I must have imprinted on you… from the moment we met!'_

"No you didn't. Just look at your thoughts; they're tide up with everything else that you ever were into. Like cars and dinosaurs! You don't think of me constantly. You think of me a lot, but not constantly."

'_So what! I still love you, and I won't leave you here!'_

"Oh yes you will Jake! This is where I belong and you know it. What would you do to me if you did take me away?" I challenged, taking a step back and shrugging my shoulders dramatically. "Marry me? You know that in my present condition that wouldn't be too easy because one, I'm stronger then you are, and two, I'm supposed to be your mortal enemy."

'_Sure, sure. I'll leave then, is that what you want? To lose me forever and to have both of us worrying about the others' happiness?'_

A wet splotch filled my vision. I caught a single tear on the tip of my finger, though it was not clear as a normal tear would be. It was a deep red; the scent that had come off of the bed in the small room upstairs got stuck in my throat. Of course it was my blood. I noticed a shimmering against my chest. My favorite necklace hung around my neck, the long silver chain reaching nearly my belly button. At the end was a petite, empty vile that I had bought at a small shop in Phoenix, Arizona when I was seven from an old Indian woman.

~If this contains a single tear of yours and hangs around the neck of someone else, when they fall into the truest of loves, it will break. When the tear falls to the earth, you will feel in your heart of hearts that they have found that love~

That was what she had told me at the time. I had swallowed the story whole at the time, after all I was seven, and when I grew older and matured more I had seen the illogical side to it. I hadn't worn the necklace in many years, but on my wedding day it had caught my eye and I put it on. I realized now that I hadn't taken it off, and I had the perfect opportunity to see if it worked. After all, nothing was impossible to me now; not after all I had been through.

I pulled the necklace over my head and took out the cork that had been lodged at the opening of the vile since I had bought it. I slid my finger across the top of it to deposit the bloody tear inside and corked it once more. Reaching my arms around Jacob's neck, I attached the silver chain around him. The clasp was strong, and had never rusted or broken, though I had dropped it in the bathtub more than once. It wouldn't break, no matter how hard he ran, or what climate he was in.

"There," I said. My necklace fit perfectly around him, almost as if it had been made just specifically in his size.

'_What's this for? Bella, I don't do jewelry!'_

"Jacob… that is my last tear. Ever. If it is held in that vile and it's around your neck and you imprint the glass will break. When my tear hits the ground I'll know that you're alright, and that you found your true love."

'_Bella, honey… that is the cheesiest thing I have ever heard.'_

"But it will work! Trust me, please! Sure it's cheesy, but now we won't be concerned about each other any longer; and I know it's true. In my heart of hearts…. Promise me that you'll always wear it. Always, even when you bathe, and sleep and eat."

'_That's just stupid—' _

'Do it," I rebutted with as much force as I could muster, quite a lot more than usual.

After a minute of contemplation he agreed. _'Fine, I swear that I will always wear this necklace; where ever, when ever. I promise.'_

"Good job. Now, since you've been such a good boy, you get a doggy biscuit."

I could hear Emmett laughing from inside the house. Either Edward was listening in or the others could still hear me.

'_I don't think that's really necessary Bells,' _he thought after his barking/laughing fit.

"Now you can go." I insisted.

He whimpered.

"Go on Jake. Don't worry about me. We'll keep in touch, I promise. When ever we make a drastic move I'll call Billy, or someone like that. Maybe Seth," I said lightly; however, my throat was beginning to close up, even if my eyes couldn't muster up any more tears, the process of crying was still the same: the lump in your throat, your eyes beginning to burn a bit. "Just keep that necklace on, ok?"

'_Sure, sure. You win this time. Don't worry I will keep it on. Just don't hold your breath while you're waiting for it to break.'_

"I won't. Bye Jake, you can make your way back now."

'_Good bye Bella. I love you.' _He thought as he reluctantly obliged my request that he leave.

"I love you too." I whispered.

I then stood out in the falling snow and watched him depart. I waited until his thoughts were no longer detectable to go back home. Edward sat on the couch and I sat beside him while his arms wrapped around me in an automatic reaction.

We sat there through the night and into the early morning, looking into each others' eyes.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © FayCullen


	8. Chapter 8

Edward and Bella: together at last 8

When morning came we broke out of our daze. He and I had been away from the world for much too long. I through myself into his arms and began to fervently kiss him in any place that I could find his beautiful skin. I twisted my fingers as gently as I could through his hair and tested the area for thought waves.

Nope. The house was completely empty. Everyone had gone away. Only Edward remained, and I had been away from him much too long. Much, much too long.

I twisted around in his arms and locked lips with his.

"Bella, what are you doing?" Edward asked as soon as I pulled away to make way for my blouse over my shoulders and head.

"This," I replied breathlessly as I pulled his face to mine once more. It was so much easier to kiss him when I didn't have to breathe.

"Bella, you can't do this, it's too early, love. I won't let you."

"Oh, but of course Edward. I can feel your resolve stiffening."

I wrapped my hands around the edge of his collar, tracing the muscles in his neck, moaning through his lips as I felt him harden against me. My body ached for his, literally ached. I pulled away from his mouth reluctantly and took off his shirt for him, ripping off five buttons out of the six that had originally been present. I ran my fingers over every contour of his perfect, remarkable chest.

I slid down to his waste and took his zipper in my teeth and slowly pulled it down. He looked at the ceiling with his eyes lightly closed and exhaled. Ahh, what fun it was to tease him this way. I kissed the smooth hair leading up to his naval, and had barely enough control not to ravish him right then and there.

I leaped up off of the couch and pulled down my own tattered pants and let him marvel in my almost-nakedness. Alice had gotten me new under garments too. A pale, ice blue matching set of lace bra and teensy-weensy underwear.

Score!

"And where do you think you're going?" Edward snarled playfully as he also came to join me and pressed his form to mine. I itched to pull him into me, to feel our bodies fit together like matching puzzle pieces. But I had to abstain if I wanted to make this just a tad more fun for the both of us.

"Ah ah aah! First you need to catch me!" I screamed behind me as I ran away, up the stairs and through Rose's and Emmett's window.

I climbed up the side of the house in an oddly graceful scramble. When I went through the window of our bathroom he was already there, stark naked and standing there nonchalantly; though other things didn't have such a casual stance. With a wicked little grin I dropped from the window to the ground and ran into the surrounding forest. I jumped to the trees again and made a few false trails until I came to the clearing I had noted when we were hunting.

I was about to hunker down and wait before I saw a strange flower growing in between the moss and trees. I plucked off a few and wove them into my hair, rubbing freesia all over my body, in every place I could manage. I squeezed the sweet oils from its center into my palm and rubbed it onto my thighs, my shoulders, and my breasts. Then I drained another flower and rubbed it along my neck and jaw.

I sensed him sneak up behind me, but I still gasped in surprise when he grabbed me and buried his nose into my neck and smelled the sweet scent the flowers made; the scent that he had so fondly described as how I had smelled when I was human.

He spun me around and firmly attached my lips to his. With a groan I wrapped my legs around his waste and pressed myself onto him, his erection straining against my thin underwear. With a quick twist of his wrist my bra was nowhere to be seen, and with a second nothing was separating me from him. Nothing, what so ever.

He entered me and I arched my back as I cried out his name. He was so firm, so strong, I couldn't believe how my new senses gave me such arousal. I moved my hips in time to his smooth thrusts, taking my time to let the movements and feelings register in my brain. The warmth that radiated from him from the recent hunt felt amazing as it filled my body.

I used my new found strength to roll him onto his back and hung over his head slightly as I caught my breath. I adjusted myself on top of him to be sitting up and bent over to hang over his head. He inhaled sharply as I bent my back and did a back bend so far over that I touched his toes with the palms of my hands. I moved my hips in slow undulations while I came up, to more heavy breathing and mouth to mouth. He held me so gently and treated me with such care, I swear, if he was treating a piece of hollow blown glass the way he was treating me it never would have broken.

But I didn't need to be treated gently any more.

I grabbed his wrists and pulled them up over his head while moving a bit rougher. I used a trick that my mom had ensued on poor, helpless Phil countless times when she thought I wasn't looking or wasn't listening. I bent over to have my chest touching his and reached my neck up so that I could breathe in his ear and bit his earlobe. Moving onto the rest of his ear I licked the edges of it with my tongue and whispered his name ecstatically into his ear. I stuck my tongue in his ear and that's what did it.

My back touched the ground again as he did the same to me, and pinned my arms above my head with incredible strength; even if I was stronger I was nothing in comparison to this brute force that held me down then. Edward ducked his head down to my neck and traced my collar bone with his tongue, going down my shoulder, my jaw.

"You smell just like you did… the first night."

I shivered with pleasure and moaned into the air while I arched my back. He then came to my chest, tracing my breasts with his nose, my nipples hardening in response. Kissing me again he cupped my breast in his hand and I reached down to his lower back and squeezed his perfect buttocks in my hands. We both squeezed at the same time. I vicious ferocity came over me as I bit my lip trying to conceal my scream of ecstasy as he groped and squeezed me between his masterful hands, but it didn't really work at all. My fingers clamped onto his arms as I continued to moan and cry out in pleasure.

With a sigh we ripped apart, our orgasms beginning to calm themselves. I rolled over and snuggled into his side and looked up into the sky. There was a thin layer of clouds that would disappear by sunset no doubt. I looked around us and noticed how there was snow every where but where we lay. A small crater lay under us, and went a good six inches deeper then the rest of the ground, not counting the other six inches of snow.

I kissed his bare chest and whispered, "I love you so much."

"I love you too. More than you will ever know."

I giggled contentedly to myself before I jumped up and ran for home. Edward followed a short ways behind me and I let go of his hand just before I ran up the stairs. Running fingers through my hair to be rid of the disarray of freesia blossoms, I did a quick examination of my body in the mirror. It was slightly darkened by the soil that we had lain upon just before we had gotten up to come home. I was flushed from the hunt and there were little grayish markings all over my body that looked a bit like hickies. Blue silk caught my eye and I turned to pick up the robes that Alice had set out for us. Mine was a deep sapphire blue with actual sapphire embroidering the collar. Another, larger version in emerald green was close by. I slipped mine on and went for Edward's.

I picked it up and held it out in front of me while turning, expecting Edward to be standing there with that wonderful half grin that I loved. However, when I turned around to hand him his robe I found that the rest of the room was unoccupied. I flitted down the stairs that led to the bottom floor and headed outside. I also found empty space in the clearing, except for the small crater we had made. I turned, calling, and ran back to the house. However, after ransacking our home and searching everywhere that I could think of at that moment, he was nowhere to be seen.

I dug through the overly stocked wardrobe (courtesy of Alice once again) and found jeans and a shirt soon enough. I grabbed the cell phone off of the night stand and dialed Alice's number while running through the door.

"I'm coming as fast as I can," Alice said after the first ring had gone about half way through.

"You'd better be. Meet me at the West end of the river, alright?" I said and waited for the appropriate, "Sure." that followed, and hung up.

I ran again, toward the river on the Western end, and followed Edward's scent. To my bafflement it lead to where I had wanted to go. All of all of my family's minds but one came into my awareness just as the river came into view.

When I arrived, the scent's trail went into the deepest waters of the river, leading strait into the rapids that made an exact, vertical drop into an array of dark and jagged rocks, waiting menacingly. I stared in horror, not because of the rocks, they wouldn't harm any of us, but because I saw the coarse, grey wool fabric hanging limply from a near by tree. It taunted me as it ruffled, sweetly in the wind.

They'd caught up with us sooner than we all had expected. Especially me.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © FayCullen


	9. Chapter 9

Edward and Bella; together at last 9

'_Bella, calm down. Everything will be okay.'_

Everybody was thinking this all at once, trying to take control of the insane situation that had caught us so crudely off guard.

After I had seen the limp cloak hanging from the tree my entire body and mind shut down. I couldn't think, I couldn't see, I could barely hear what the others were thinking. For a moment I feared that Alec had gotten to me.

I fell to the frozen ground in a crumpled heap and sobbed dryly into my palms. Edward, my entire universe, was gone. The thought of his never coming back again wounded me tremendously and only made me breath more jaggedly. From the moment I had gazed into his golden eyes I had seen with a new light, only revolving around him. For weeks I had dreamed of him, thought of him, examined his siblings' and his habits, fascinated by every aspect of him. Even when I had learned of his true identity, which I now held, I could only look deeper into those gold, liquid orbs and dream of the day I would become one of them. Now, the entire edifice of my life was being threatened, and we were all in grave danger.

These thoughts had only lasted the length of time it took for me to feel Alice's thin arms wrap around me in a consoling embrace with thoughts that brought me back down to earth; mere seconds in the long search that would ensue.

Along with her current thoughts, her thoughts throughout the day flitted before my eyes in a matter of seconds, and I saw the visions that had narrated the duration of her morning. Edward. With the Volturi. Being taken away by Aro and Jane when he went off from our little charade in the woods, swathed in old jeans that he must have picked up from the house and a dark, brooding grey cloak.

I leapt to my feet and sniffed the air. Alice smiled to herself when she saw that I had gotten the message. Looking frantically in all directions, I caught sight of the cloak.

Carlisle's thoughts interrupted my sniffing the garment. _'Well done Bella, find the tenor of the scent and follow it to where it will lead.'_

Unlike Carlisle, Emmett had another tactic in mind. _'I'll rip them limb from limb; bury them into the ground like sick little puppies. Those mutant, infantile, little cretin….' _I was with Emmett. There was no way this would go down peacefully.

It smelled different then we did. A more human sent along with the sweetness that went along with all of our species. Also, some misused hair product and the musty sent of dust. I wondered what it was and realized it was from the dust mites that had settled into Aro's and Marcus's clothing. I brushed at my own clothing in a sudden wave of paranoia and turned to Rosalie.

I addressed her quickly, "Rose, could you take a whiff? I'll need all the help I can get."

"Okay, Bella. All of us?"

"Yes. All of us." And I sprang over the river to the fresh trail left by their scent. It was a bit diluted from the river water; however, after a few hundred feet the scent was as strong as it was before.

I supervised my family through their thoughts, avoiding Emmett's homicidal attitude, and more on Alice's and Jasper's practical mental faculties. When ever I took Emmett's consciousness into mine I would get even more agitated, and, try as he might, Jasper could not calm me down. I only moved more rapidly at the sound of him attempting to calm my system.

The trees flew by like they had never before. In the earlier hours of the day, when I ran I could make out the trees and every animal between them. Although, now I only saw a blur and my family complained of losing sight of me ahead of them. I almost stumbled onto a bird's nest in an attempt to get further ahead by taking to the trees again, and when I came back down to the earth I nearly came into another skirmish with a herd of Elk. I only stopped to drain one so I could build up strength and headed off again ahead of the rest.

I suppose at another time it would have been beautiful. If I could have seen the trees I would have admired their patterns and marveled at my new sight, even described to Edward what I saw and hear him laugh at my simple amazement. But to my dismay I was searching desperately for my lost love, wondering whether I would see his marvelous face and awe inspiring half smile again.

Just as we reached the main highway leading into an Inuit village (a good 2 hours later is my guess; we had covered around 700 miles), Jane's consciousness was within hearing distance, and I could hear Aro and Marcus. Caius having been killed prior to the event, his mind was absent, and they had added even more security than they usually had.

"You guys stay behind," I whispered almost incoherently, even to myself. "Jane and Alec are with them and I don't want you to be incapacitated. Alice will know when to assist."

Emmett clearly disapproved. "There is no way in hell that—"

"Don't speak Emmett, think." I chastised in an airy hiss.

'_Fine. But there is no way in hell that I'm gonna' miss out on kicking Felix and Demetri's asses. I've been waiting too long for that.'_

"Emmett, you'll get to fight, but after I stop them from attacking you."

'_Aawh, but then it's no fun.'_

"What do you think Rose will think, or do, if you get hurt?"

He scoffed in my direction, but Rosalie looked at him heatedly and hissed under her breath.

'_She can't ALWAYS be so pessimistic, can she?'_

"Maybe you can take that up with her while I'm gone. Guys, keep him in check. Alice, you'll know." And I was off.

I took careful steps as I ran, watching both the Volturi and Emmett, making sure that both situations were in check. Judging by their thoughts they weren't really planning a trap, they were just detained by a new member who didn't understand proper conduct. Julianne (her name apparently) was used only for her skills, and I trod cautiously on the frozen ground as I got closer. She had psychokinetic powers, shifting objects without touching them, that sort of thing, except much more advanced then any human possibly could be. I wondered how powerful she had been in those years to make her so effective now. Her ability was purely physical, so I couldn't replicate it. Julianne was, or had been, on guard duty with Edward.

Edward was humming my lullaby quietly and it had driven her mad. In a sudden whirl that Edward had grinned knowingly at while she attempted to rip his head off, she had breached her control. He had easily bypassed her attack, but this replay in her thoughts still put my teeth on edge.

Now Aro was criticizing her about her lack of control in a grand and airy way in the way that only Aro can. His mind was a strange and erratic place. It went everywhere all at once in a weird jumble of mental pictures and simple thought; Sanskrit, his original language, smudged all of his thoughts—making them harder to understand—but it was obvious once he easily translated them into English in his mind. Solely focusing on grief and regret, he chose his words quickly out of his unbelievable vocabulary, sending poor Julianne into a spiral of apologetic penitence.

"And to imagine that we have granted you this amazing opportunity"—I was within easiest hearing distance now—", and you have shown as scant a gratitude as to disobey the only orders you had been given."

"I'm so sorry Master," she breathed, remorse and sorrow covering every thought, facial expression, and gesture she made. She was so enthralled in his scolding that she wasn't even aware of the quiet sound of my feet in the trees a mere 800 feet away.

Edward inclined his head infinitesimally my way, easily missed by the distraught Julianne and preoccupied Aro. The cloak that had previously lain on his shoulders was missing, but Demetri and his greasy hair also wasn't wearing one. Most of the other members were bored out of their minds, while others watched their "Master" in amazement. Edward knew I was there. I blew him a mental kiss while I tested my new abilities. This would be so entertaining. I hoped that Alice was seeing this.

I focused my gaze on Jane. Her sweet and angelic complexion was marred by a glazed and bored look. _'I wonder if I can just torture her. It would be easier than listening to this drawl.' _She thought to herself, quickly taking back what she said about Aro's never ending speech. She smiled at Julianne, and I heard the process of her unmerciful mind.

Julianne fell to her knees and shrieked into the air.

'_Well Jane,' _I thought. _', I believe it's time for a taste of your own medicine.'_

Just as Aro turned to chastise her blatant unrestraint in this situation, I turned my gaze to her as well. Jane had just showed me what to do herself, and I was eager to try out my new skill. I smiled at Jane from my hiding place and imagined a knife being stabbed into her head, penetrating deep into the lobes of her brain.

She fell to the ground and I sent a fresh spasm rolling through her mind. The next thing I imagined was an angry mob coming to grab her and her being drawn and quartered while they jeered and laughed at her stupidity and inability to get away from them. Soon lightning was electrocuting her mind, she was drowning though she had had no need of air for hundreds of years; needles pricked and scratched her skin, her fingernails were being ripped from their nail beds.

I stopped the commotion and began another tactic. Her brother, Alec, was beginning to unfurl his clouds of numbness to ease his poor sister's pain, and I now knew that mind game as well.

I let the overcast wave of numbness that would be used to anesthetize everyone there. Poor Emmett. I guess he wouldn't get much fun after all.

But Alec could see the cloud as well as I could; the drowsy slumber only moved in a slow roll and no faster, so he ran to Aro, tapped his palm, and he immediately knew of what I was intending for them.

I screamed my decision in my mind, preying that Alice would be able to see in time.

'_Restrained attack, wait for the signal,' _were the final imaginings of my choice as I moved from where I listened.

I tumbled gracefully from the trees and flashed to Edward's side. I nodded to Aro blandly and threw a dazzling smile to Jane, who glared at me menacingly. I giggled under my breath, catching Julianne's attention.

'_I can't believe I let Master down this way! I was too distracted. Stupid, stupid, stupid Julianne…'_

"It's okay Julianne. You won't be kicked out; much too valuable."

My reply to her thoughts stopped the girl in her tracks. Had she not known what I could do? Surely Aro had touched Edward in the past few hours. But then again…

I scanned Aro's consciousness. His disorganized mind was jumping from thought to thought of every explanation, but he hadn't a clue. In his jumbled thoughts there wasn't a trace of touching Edward.

"Ah, Bella. I see you've excelled in your extra abilities," was his final choice of words about two seconds later. He stretched his hand out, just to check that I wasn't completely blocked up to his mental abilities, and I took it reluctantly, a knee jerk reaction, though I was eager to see the true inner workings of his mind instead of the small scratch on the surface with his current thoughts.

More confusion met my expectant hand. I discovered his principles, his past, his loves, his hates, and, most of all, his own little mind expeditions. I almost let out a small wave of hysteric laughter from my lips as I saw what he had seen, the centuries of stupidity and horror he had witnessed from his victims. The taste of blood to him was so amazing, my mouth reacted with a small bit of venom, and the taste was equal to the scent.

'_Is that really how humans taste to normal vampires?'_ I thought when it ended after about six seconds, longer than the usual mind flashes I had gotten previously. A longer lifespan, more to see. Think. Hear.

I pulled my hand from his, a smile playing at the edges of his lips; my stomach coiled in a strange way as a reaction. Not as severely as with the scent of human blood, but with a strange dread. A dread of knowledge. Knowing you've been discovered.

I checked his thoughts once more.

'_Hello Bella dear. Can you hear this?'_

Crap. While I nodded my head his smile widened into a look of pure glee.

"Oh Jane?" he addressed her. "I do believe that we have a little prodigy here. You have a remarkable talent on your hands Edward; I hope that you use it wisely."

I saw Edward's jaw tighten before he replied, "She does have some incredible abilities, but I will not use her like a worthless toy, easily replaced, as you have with the poor beings under your control."

'_The pompous bastard!' _Julianne screamed in her mind. A low growl of warning escaped my lips. Edward was selfless and only protecting me with his insult, making me want even more to pull him from this hopeless situation.

She snapped to attention before she stepped away from me, fearful thoughts dripping from her overworked brain like blood off an executioner's blade.

While Aro gave another long reply I looked to each of his guard's thoughts; eight minds including Jane, Alec, and Julianne. Demetri, Felix, Julianne, Jane, Alec, Deadorin, Michael, and another gifted female Renata. She seemed to have a physical shield that guarded physical attacks and hovered around Aro like a little girl protecting her dolly from her dolly killing older brother. Deodorin was a male, his ability being chosen invisibility. His delusion was routed in the brain, making the eyes ignore the light reflecting off of his skin, making him invisible to the average human or vampire. A human or vampire that _didn't _have a mental block in their mind. Michael also had an uncanny ability to camouflage, by not only making himself invisible, but also made others do what Deodorin could.

I hadn't taken Marcus into account though. He wasn't a guard of course, but instead a depressed, hostile person who had grown tired of Aro's enthusiasm over too many a millennia together. I looked deeper to the source of his morose, and found it to be lost love. Didyme, his mate and love, had been killed in an assassination attempt over 200 years ago. They had been together for ten times that long, and his sorrow made me want to reach out and give him a great, big hug. He really needed one. Like him, she could sense relationships, but could cause them as well. Poor Marcus had always doubted his love for her, though it was as deep as Edward's and mine, thinking she may have manipulated it but he no longer cared. He didn't care about anything but helping Aro in his harebrained schemes, and even that gave him too much time to think about how he could have never saved her.

Other than his never ending love for Didyme causing his depression, his sixth sense sent him into a whirl pool that sucked the life out of him. A whirl pool of hate, and passionate anger, and regret, and guilt. I saw through his eyes the relationships of the people around us. Emotions were shown through strings of light; the thicker and brighter the string, the more the two people cared for each other. Jane and Alec had one of the strongest relationships between the guards, and Julianne had a fairly strong relationship with Michael; Aro and Marcus had a bright string, but it was thin and easily breakable, as with the guards to them.

However, the strongest and brightest light was between Edward and me. The string was not a mere thread between the two of us, but a thick rope that is often seen on old ship's anchors. An iron rope at least four inches in diameter was connecting us from our silent hearts. Light emanated from it as though it were the sun, no longer billions of light years away, but just ten _feet_ away. My eyes would have been blinded if I were still human.

I stared, in shock through Marcus's mind for a few moments, over come by the sheer magnitude of our relationship. _'What? How? Really? Do we love each other that much? Do we honestly, truly, love each other that much?'_

I squeezed Edward's hand, and he squeezed mine, both knowing that our love was sincere, seeing it through a gifted vampire's eyes. Aro stopped his speech short, though it had only run a few moments while I surveyed his guardians' minds.

"But do you have other abilities?" he asked curiously. "Unbeknownst to us? Some things that you are… hiding."

We both stayed silent, unwilling to respond to a question that could very well reveal my true power to this unmoral group of vampires. A twig cracked in the nearby trees that distracted Julianne. Her head whipped in its direction, immediately bending the trees and making them part. I had already known it was a wild cat, I'm not sure which, but it was too small to be a mountain lion and too big to be a house cat. Julianne settled down when she saw what it was and turned back to Aro, replacing the trees. She was nervous with her surroundings.

"Secretive, hmm? Well, we'll clear everything up in a bit, shall we?"

Renata moved like a shadow behind him when he came to grasp Edward's hand. Her physical force field was impressive, and easily workable, but it took time to discover how to work it as well or as strongly as she did, so I was unable to use mine for more than a few seconds. I couldn't even extend it two centimeters, let alone two inches.

I didn't see Edward's thoughts in Aro's, much to my disappointment. The fact that I couldn't see his mind was driving me up a wall. Insane! Was this really how he felt all of the time?

He nodded his head knowingly but was disappointed at the lack of information he received. My mouth twitched with the threat of a grin breaking out on my face.

"Yes—well—in good time dear ones, in good time."

Edward and I saw his thoughts at the same time and I snapped my fingers quickly. Alice, with the rest of our family in tow, burst through the fringe of trees.

I electrocuted Aro's mind, sending him to his knees, and multi tasked in using Michael's keen skill to turn others invisible.

Emmett and Demetri were in a fight to the death, but with Emmett's new invisibility he had the fight made. Alice was zipping around, dodging attacks and taking off a few limbs like a petite, fairy tornado of destruction. Carlisle and Jasper were holding their own, and I watched in horror and amazement as fierce growls and threatening hisses escaped from Esme's and Rosalie's perfect lips. Edward went strait for Jane, who was unable to torture anyone because she couldn't see them; I had put up my new invisibility defenses almost immediately.

Marcus came at me. We began our own dance; I anticipated his steps while he tried to foreshadow mine. I was young and inexperienced, and my mind was preoccupied with Aro and making the others disappear, so I was short handed against the Ancient who barred my way to victory so savagely. However I was taking tips from every one around me, watching what they did and mirroring them in my defensive and forward attacks. I was so close to loosing, but I was on the brink of winning. I had seen many vampire attacks (even if it was only two it was many, considering the rarity of people living through them) and I had learned to not be controlled by my instincts, to watch and observe, to think things through.

Unfortunately, our victory was short lived. Michael also used his defenses, and though I tried to call out to each of them the position of who they were attacking my family could not keep up with it. Each of the fights was too even. I had used Deodorin's defenses for myself and I was able to see Marcus so my invisibility helped defend me from his superior skills; an even fight. Edward and Jane were still fighting; Edward had the upper hand, but Julianne was helping out by moving the ground beneath Edward's feet or making trees fall around us. Alice was whizzing around helping people, Emmett and Demetri were crashing through others; Jasper traded Felix for Demetri when Emmett shot past, Esme and Carlisle were double teaming Alec and Michael, while Rosalie took on Deodorin.

Julianne was on her own though, and she came over to help out Marcus with me. She was older than I, a little more experienced and well trained; I had to use almost all of my strength blocking both of their blows. I was also distracted by the flood of thoughts that blocked my view for milliseconds at a time. It was almost impossible to see between the two of them trying to kill me and their thoughts from the last 200 to 2000 years blurring my vision.

And then the rest of them came.

Led by Heidi, at least fifteen grey swathed figures began to fall in and attack.

"Let's go!" I called, and B-lined for the house, my family following behind. Edward came up on my right and called to me, "Faster!" I was going as fast as I could possibly go but the determination in his eyes drove me forward. I could not lose him.

We were all running as fast as we could possibly go, even Emmett, who grumbled at the lost fight as we shot through the trees.

When we reached the house they had almost caught up with us. We darted into the house to make a diversion but they could simply blast through the walls after us. Everything was a mess, a sea of minds crashing over me; my thoughts couldn't assess the situation, I only knew that I needed to protect Edward.

I grasped his hand and pulled him to the roof.

"Stay here," I commanded. I begged. "Please Edward. Just run away. Save yourself."

But as I turned to run he pulled me back into a sultry kiss and said, "I'll never leave you to fight on your own. I'll always stay with you." He bit my hand over the scar of James's bite and I returned the gesture in the exact spot as he bit me. Our mark for each other to see. Who ever made it out would know that the other was with them. We were swearing not to kill ourselves if the other died, and believe me it was the hardest promise I had ever made.

"I love you."

"I love you more. Forever and always."

"Forever and always…." I echoed.

The house began to crumble beneath our feet warning us to go and help. The swarm was coming and though our moment of passion had only lasted an instant we had to move.

We tumbled down the stairs and formed a circle with the rest of our family back to back. We were already surrounded, what was the use of facing one side?

The amount of extra abilities coming in after us was remarkable. I tried the numbness cloak and it made it through the first row of people but stopped after that blocked by Alec's. I observed each person's gift and used the ones I could on the other side, multi-tasking. We hurried to kill whoever came upon us but Alec was in the back and he made the cloud of numbness wash over us. I tried to pull Edward away. I tried to protect everybody.

I stood there snarling, my own cloud of anesthesia coming out and blocking the way for the full blast of it to come in. Everyone's minds were jumbled but they could still fight adequately, even if it was marred by pins and needles in their toes. I couldn't make it strong enough.

When the cloud took over I jumped to Edward and grabbed him, but with his last strength he pushed me away with a kiss to my hand. Emanating from his lips, his entire life's thoughts washed over me. His love for me was so intense I could barely stand and that was Emmett's opening. Emmett grabbed my waist and threw me through the wall, the last of the house coming down on them.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" I shrieked.

In those last seconds I heard Edward. I heard his mind. The thing that I had craved since I had discovered I could read minds, and I was in the worst situation imaginable.

'_Live.' _He thought. _'Let me go. Go and live. Do what you must to leave me behind. This for you, love. Just know I'll be there with you, always. I love you.'_

I could smell the gasoline and hear the ripping of limbs and the satisfactory snarls. I could also hear the pleas of love between my family and me and their mates. Alice, Jasper. Rosalie, Emmett. Esme, Carlisle. Going over their history together, giving their last goodbyes.

And though they all told me to run, that I didn't have to see this, I could not bring myself to leave.

I respected Edward's wish though. I had too.

I moved my feet back, one step at a time. I didn't turn my gaze away. I listened to Edward and I knew he could hear me as well.

'_I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!!' _I screamed at him in my mind. And we cried and called and listened to each other. _'I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!!!'_

When they all cut off I choked. I continued to scream to him in my thoughts as I bolted through the trees, trying in vain to escape the heavy smoke. But I couldn't run as fast as Edward. In a million years I would never be able to run as fast as he did.

In the wisps of wind passing me by I could hear echoes his velvet voice shouting to me, '_Faster, faster!' _and I did as he had wished me too. Just as when he had left me so long ago—it felt as if it was a life time ago—he wasn't there, but I could hear him. Clear as day, I could hear his voice calling out to me. I had to obey the voice of my lost love.

'_Good bye Bella,' _Aro thought. _'I'm truly sorry if there are any hard feelings betwe—'_

I ran out of hearing distance and into the happy human minds in the surrounding areas. They were all so content, so happy, and so… so… undead. My senses were dead. I couldn't feel anymore. Nothing. Nothing but the throb of my heart and my hand where he bit me. I looked at the bite and licked it, tasted his venom, tasted and smelled his scent, the absolute perfection that made up my love. And now that love, my life, was gone.

'_I will always stay with you.' _He had said. A cruel truth was what he had told me. A truth that would way me down and lift me up while I continued to live and he did not.

I would always be with him. Wherever he went and wherever I went I would always be with him. Our souls were entwined and I was his. Forever. I had promised forever and I would belong to him. We belonged to each other.

When I smelled the familiar rains of the Olympic Peninsula I broke down. I fell to my knees and crumpled in a heap, crying multiple bloody tears into the ground. What I had thought was my last tear was just the gateway for others to fall through. I finally knew what Jane's power felt like even though she could never hurt me herself.

My tears that had once fallen without pain now burned my eyes and cheeks like acid. I tasted the blood that rolled into my mouth and spat them out with pure contempt for the foul taste that felt like rancid milk on my tongue. To get rid of it I licked my stinging wound that tasted of Edward. His essence. I almost resurfaced, but I remembered what day it was. September 13th, my nineteenth birthday, and the day my soul was destroyed. I continued to weep.

I sobbed and sobbed, blood pouring endlessly over my pale features. When I at last stood again, it was the ending of three days. How strange, that in the amount of time it took to begin this, it took to end it. The clouds were darkened and twilight had fallen over the forest. I let the rain wash away the blood stains on my cheeks remembering my junior prom I had spent with Edward in that ridiculous blue dress in my cast and being human with him. I remembered the feel of his cold skin against mine when he had kissed my throat after we had escaped the decorated mess of a gym that Forks High School had so 'generously' provided for the dance. I remembered waltzing around the gym to the wrong music on his toes and how I hated it when he let me go.

I ran over both fuzzy human memories and new clear ones while I ran to the Quileute border line and waited for them to come. When I realized waiting was pointless I went back to the house just outside of Forks. I nearly broke down again when I got there. I went in to use the phone and I saw the damage we had caused when we had left. I saw the shattered part of the window and I saw the wreck of trees around it. The bottom half of the house had burned and some of the trees had been burnt into a black sea. Had it only been a week since we had left?

I dialed Seth's number first but rethought it and tried Billy's. After several rings Jacob picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Jake?" My voice was hoarse from crying for so long. I didn't feel any pain and I cleared my throat once to get rid of the phlegm left over.

"Bella! Oh my God, what happened?!" He could sense the stress behind my voice, th3e abnormal roughness to it.

"Can you come to the house? It's a lot to explain…"

When he came I heard his frantic thoughts and I opened the door to a concerned and half naked Jacob.

I took him to the ashen couch and explained and when I got to the last part I fell into his chest and wept, with out tears but just as painfully. He was wearing the necklace I had given him and when I looked at my hands I found my charm bracelet. I was amazed that it hadn't broken, but I noticed that there was a crack in the diamond Edward had given me. I wept harder.

When I had calmed down I looked at Jake and saw the conflict in his eyes and thoughts.

"And then I came here." I concluded, not mentioning my earlier bout of tears.

"Bells, I don't think—"

"It's okay, I'll be fine; I'll stay here. No reason to make things awkward with the pack."

"You sure?"

"Of course. I'll be fine, go home, I just needed to announce I was here and my cell phone was broken from the fight."

"Honey… I'm so sorry." He said this with sincerity and his thoughts proved it.

"Thank you." I whispered.

I heard him run off and heard his rage and didn't really know what to do at first.

I trailed up the steps slowly, fingering the loose screw that had sealed our fate. A majority of the staircase was burned, but the fire had somehow stayed controlled and hadn't made the entire house collapse. My small wait had no effect on the blackened wood, and the awful smell filled my senses throughout this floor of the house.

I froze in the doorway of our bedroom. Our wedding bed still stood in messy disarray that smelled of our passion that night. The sheets were still rumpled, my wedding dress lay on the floor, his suit with the small freesia flower stuck in the button hole.

For some reason when I picked up my wedding dress and his clothes and collapsed on our bed an irresistible instinct came upon me. I had to kill them. The Volturi had killed my family and Edward; the very core of my being had been destroyed. I had to kill them….

I had no control over these feelings. I just remembered their thoughts and what Marcus had seen. Recalling what his thoughts had been I saw what he had seen so vividly I nearly started to weep again.

I saw each of the lights; the thick strings disintegrate between my family members and me. All but one. The iron rope connecting Edward and I disappeared like the rest, but the incredible light remained between us. It became an aura around me and his burning body and as the smoke began to unfurl, the aura drifted to me. Bright light surrounded my still unbelieving figure before I turned to run and finally centered around my hand.

The hand where James, and now Edward, had bitten me.

But the most eerie of them all was what Marcus had thought in parting. _'Now you know how it feels. I hope you enjoy the agony.'_

I looked down at the now healed scar and the bloody tears began to spill over again—not as many as before, but enough to make me pucker my face in disgust at the smell.

My head turned into the bed and I inhaled the scent that wafted off of the sheets and I lay there, begging for death and sleep and felt my heart rip apart. I knew this feeling, but now it was worse. The pain returned from when Edward had left me only a few months ago, but was so much more severe. He had no chance of coming back now. Wrapping my arms around my stomach—trying to hold it together—I let the spasms of pain roll through my body.

They would never leave me.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Together at Last' © FayCullen

* * *

**Hey there people. This is the last chapter of the series. I'm sorry if I have shattered your dreams in any way, but I had to do this ending. I've been planning it since the beginning.**

**I was originally planning to do a spinoff series, but we shall see. I am having a bit of writer's block, os in a while I'll be back up and running. Say hi to Rosette-Cullen for me and see the brilliance that inspired me to write.**

**~Fay**


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